entitlements are a huge part of the fiscal cliff standoff. john king is joining us. john, explain to the viewers how medicare factors into all of this. >> reporter: it's where the money is, or at least where a lot of it is. we have this credibility standoff right now. republicans say the president won't be credible until he pushes the democrats to go more on medicare and other entitlement programs. but led's look at the medicare argument. if you're a single man born in 1945, that means you're approaching 70, on medicare. if you made about $20,000 a year during your career, that was your average, then in medicare taxes, you paid about $18,000, roughly $18,000 to $20,000 in taxes. if you made about $110,000 a year in your career, you paid about $88,000 to the government in medicare taxes. that's what you paid in. a lot of conservatives are saying you need to change the program. this is one of the reasons why. this is what you get out. if you paid $18,000, you're getting ten times out over the course of your lifetime in benefits. you paid about $88,000 in, you're gettin